The Times coverage this morning of the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI makes clear that the Times really, really doesn't like him. The second sentence of the article sums him up as "a profoundly conservative figure whose papacy was overshadowed by clerical abuse scandals."

The article goes on:

When he took office, Pope Benedict's well-known stands included the assertion that Catholicism is "true" and other religions are "deficient;" that the modern, secular world, especially in Europe, is spiritually weak; and that Catholicism is in competition with Islam. He had also strongly opposed homosexuality, the ordination of women priests and stem cell research.

… For the church's liberal elements, rather than being the answer to that crisis, Benedict's election represented the problem: an out-of-step conservative European academic.

The Times coverage this morning of the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI makes clear that the Times really, really doesn't like him. The second sentence of the article sums him up as "a profoundly conservative figure whose papacy was overshadowed by clerical abuse scandals."

The article goes on:

When he took office, Pope Benedict's well-known stands included the assertion that Catholicism is "true" and other religions are "deficient;" that the modern, secular world, especially in Europe, is spiritually weak; and that Catholicism is in competition with Islam. He had also strongly opposed homosexuality, the ordination of women priests and stem cell research.

… For the church's liberal elements, rather than being the answer to that crisis, Benedict's election represented the problem: an out-of-step conservative European academic.